this morning on "early today," coming clean. joran van der sloot, once the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of natalee holloway, confesses to a peruvian murder. line of fire. a natural gas pipeline explodes in texas, killing one worker. and a jum sized problem. an escaped zoo elephant goes on the rampage in switzerland's an escaped zoo elephant goes on the rampage in switzerland's largest city. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hi, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. today we begin with a killers'

confession. nbc news confirms dutch citizen joran van der sloot, who was once the prime suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway, has admitted to killing a peruvian woman. police officials say last night van der sloot confessed to murdering 21-year-old stephany flores in his hotel room last week. local reports say van der sloot said he was angered and it exploded when she used his laptop and found out about his past. at that point van der sloot reportedly said he grabbed her by the neck and hitter. if tried and convicted of murder in peru, van der sloot could get up to 35 years in prison. 50 days in the gulf oil disaster, officials say bp is keeping half a million gallons of oil a day out of the water. still it's hard to be optimistic with an estimated 39 million gallons of oil already in the gulf continuing its creep toward shore. conservative estimates say cleanup could go on for months while the oil's toxic effects will likely be held for years. nbc's matt lauer sat down with

president obama yesterday where the topic of how he's handled the crisis so far got a little heated. >> a month ago i was meeting with fishermen down there standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be. and i don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. we talked to these folks because they essentially had the best answers, so i know who's asked to kick. >> don't miss the rest of matt's exclusive interview with president obama this morning on "today," right here on this nbc station. from coast to coast, voters in a dozen states head to the polls today in races that will determine who will be on the ballot come midterm elections this fall. for more on what some are calling primary palooza we check in with tracie potts in washington. >> reporter: good morning. there are elections in eleven states today, several national elections for seats here in congress, also gubernatorial elections, local elections, as well. a lot going on. let's sort of walk you through what some of the biggest elections are, the things you should keep an eye on.

the big question today is whether incumbents here in washington will be able to keep their seats. one of the biggest you'll want to keep an eye on is in arkansas. senator blanche lincoln is in a runoff there. she wasn't able to clinch that seat in the first election. she's running against bill halter, the democrat. the polls don't look very good for her. she could become the fifth incumbent from washington to lose her seat. and then in nevada, there's a big race for who is going to challenge senator and majority leader harry reid. there's a three-way there. and the tea party candidate has sort of surged ahead. the big question is whether that will help or hurt harry reid in the fall. there are some analysts saying it could actually help him, as a result of has happened with some other tea party candidates, for example, with rand in kentucky. we'll have to see what happens there today. california's one you'll want to keep an eye on today. senator barbara boxer is facing a challenger there. it's sort of the race of the ceos.

the female ceos on the republican ticket there because in the senate race, carly fiorina who used to head hp is challenging boxer and in the gubernatorial race, meg whitman, who is a former head of ebay is trying to become california's governor replacing schwarzenegger. finally you may want to keep an eye on south carolina. some interesting primaries for governor there, including a four-way race on the republican ticket, including nicky haley who could become the first female indian american governor in that state, if she wins. a lot going on today. >> tracie, i know you're going to be busy. live for us in washington, thank you. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in texas, one worker was killed when a natural gas pipeline exploded. authorities say utility crews were digging a ditch when they accidentally hit the line, sparking a huge fireball. at least seven other workers were injured in that blast. a massive fire continues to burn in west virginia where there was also a gas explosion. in this case, seven workers were

burned when a crew that was drilling a natural gasline hit a pocket of methane gas that ignited. fortunately none of the workers' injuries are life-threatening. in california, the air force released video of sunday's successful test of its new missile interceptor. however, it was just a test launch and did not involve any target missiles. now the military will study data collected from that launch and see if any improvements can be made. and a makeup artist in illinois now holds the guinness world record for lipstick application. he dolled up 300 women in one hour, smashing the previous record that was just of 180. and it may seem a little bit easy, but guidelines are really strict on this. guinness officials had to certify that the lipstick was consistent on both the upper and the lower lips, and the color had to be within the lip lines. busy guy there. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> yesterday around the country we didn't have any of those tornadoes or too much severe weather. and it's relatively quiet morning in the east today.

beautiful day, yesterday, from the great lakes, ohio valley, right down through the southeast. even new england had a beautiful day. low humidity because that cold front went off the shore. now we're left pretty much for the most part with a very quiet morning. the only area of the country that's seeing bad weather is from nebraska to iowa, southern portions of minnesota into wisconsin. that's where the next storm is brewing. and we already have thunderstorms out there this morning, and even some areas of very heavy rain. severe thunderstorm watch continues now into kansas. strong storms are rolling right down through lincoln, and omaha, and sooner or later they'll be down here near top he'd ka, kansas, and maybe even kansas city. this is where we could see flash flooding over the next two days. numerous thunderstorm complexes are going to roll through this region. if you look at our little chart here, once you get to the orange and the red, that's three to four inches of rain in areas in nebraska, into southern iowa, and this area's got a lot of rain so far this spring. so this is where we could see flash flooding. doesn't look to hit too many major cities, omaha, lincoln,

south of des moines and st. louis will be the areas of concerns. thunderstorms today from kansas city, chicago, illinois, that's the damp, kind of cloudy weather. notice the temperatures, gets very hot and humid, and then it's much cooler. where we have that boundary intersecting is where we have all the problems. the east coast looks fantastic once again with a little bit of heat down there along the gulf. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. chicago as we mentioned, thunderstorms for you. and the clouds and the rain will keep the temperatures down. 65, that's it for your high. tampa, florida, 93 and sunny. so, florida's kind of steamy and hot, along with oklahoma, 93 in the city. promise to talk more about the heat a little later. >> thanks. stop, stumble, google gets called out and the embarrassing snafu at the iphone unveiling. your early morning business headlines ahead. plus a last minute glitch prevents charlie sheen from shacking up in the hooskow.

we'll explain. the luckiest fan in pittsburgh. the padres spoil a no hitter. and a world series walkoff. you're watching "early today."

hi, everybody, good morning, welcome back to "early today," i'm thomas roberts. here's some of your top headlines this morning. violence across afghanistan. yesterday. ten nato service members were killed marking the deadliest day for nato since october. one of those who died, seven were americans, five of them victims of a single roadside bombing. after a nine peering journalism career that included a half century at the white house, ten presidents, veteran reporter helen thomas has abruptly retired following controversial comments she recently made. the 89-year-old created an uproar saying israelis should, quote, get the hell out of palestine and go home to quote, poland, germany and america. thomas has apologized but white house spokesman robert gibbs denounced her comments as offensive and representry hencible. in england scientists may

have dug up a graveyard for roman gladiator from almost 2,000 years ago. an excavation project led to the discovery of dozens of headless skeletons. gladiators were often beheaded as an act of mercy after suffering horrific injuries in fights. begun skeleton even had bite marks from a large animal, maybe a lion or a tiger. and in switzerland, drivers had a good reason to rubberneck. a circus elephant escaped in zurich and was loose on the streets. take a look at this. took about an hour before the animal was finally captured. fortunately, nobody was hurt. and now here's an early look at how wall street is going to be kicking off the day. the dow opens at 9,816 after falling 115 points. the s&p shed 14, the nasdaq fell 45. we take a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo. the nikkei added 17. while in hong kong the hang seng rose 109 points. nagging fears over european debt was the catalyst for a late-day sell-off yesterday, and there's no telling when the selling will stop.

another fresh low for the euro played on investor fears, setting the s&p dangerously close to its psychological low of 1045. risky stocks were the first to go, fueling a rise in so-called safe bets like gold and the greenback. hopefully a deal by european leaders to set up a so-called safety net for debt laden eurozone countries will help calm investors' fears today. on the hard-hit nasdaq, even apple was down 2% after the official unveiling of its thinner, lighter, next generation iphone. at ceo steve jobs' demo he tried to display how the phone displayed images but too many computers clogged the wireless network so he gave up. google shares lost 3% after connecticut attorney general called on the company to quote come clean over accusations of unethical data collection for google maps in that state. goldman sachs fell after a panel investigating the financial crisis took the rare step of demanding documents from the bank. the panel charges goldman

stonewalled an initial request by replying with the equivalent of a 2.5 billion pages of electronic documents. bank of america shed 3% after agreeing to pay $108 million to settle federal charges of quote callus conduct when its countrywide financial division overcharged homeowners facing foreclosure. chrysler is recalling more than 600,000 vehicles for faulty brakes and electrical fires after a recall last week over sticky gas pedals. and diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but a great dress, well that could come in a very close second. especially if it's the hot pink stunner marilyn monroe wore in "gentlemen prefer blondes" expected to sell for a couple hundred thousand dollars at a hollywood auction. good luck if you're going after it. a phillies pitcher goes from no hitter to loser in the blink of an eye. plus the mariners struggling free agent signing shawn figgens wakes up at bat and in the field. you've got to see it. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the big weather story of the day is flash flooding and thunderstorms in the middle of

the nation. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports last night in philadelphia, in a matter of moments the san diego padres managed to go from famine to feast. here's nbc's fred roggin with an

early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the phillies had a no hitter going into the seventh until aid ran gonzalez crashed the party. scoreless in the seventh. gonzalez broke up the no hitter with a solo shot. 1-0, san diego. the next batter was scott hairston. he also took hamills deep. he only gave up three hits but two were homers. the ninth, gonzalez, second homer of the game. the padres are in first place in the n.l. west after a 3-1 win. the mariners/rangers, arias with a shot to shallow right. chone figgins tracks it down and made a diving grab. he stuck the landing. cliff lee wasn't too bad, either, gave up two runs, strike out seven for a complete game. 15th time in his career that he's gone the distance. mariners won it 4-2. wild scene in pittsburgh at the pirates/cubs. the ball into the stands, watch closely. the fan with the red cap threw

his glove down in disgust. two pitches later lee fouled off another one and lo and behold our buddy with a red cap made the most of it. snagged the ball from under the seats and just like that disappointment turns to jubilation. but we're not done. in the ninth, another foul ball, and there he was again. this time instead of keeping it, he gave it to a little kid. nice gesture. unfortunately for him, his pirates weren't so lucky. they lost it 6-1. and finally high drama in game one of the college softball world series. ucla and arizona tied at five in extra innings. when megan laggenfield ended it. a solo shot straight away to center. we could use a slugger like that on the company softball team. ucla won it 6-5. game two is tonight. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. gary coleman's ex changes her tune regarding death bed photos of the former child star. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus ever wonder while waiting in line at a theme park, could

my future spouse be standing right near me? it is not as strange as you might think. we have that story. you're watching "early today."

"early today" travel weather is brought to you by new lanacane anti-chafing gel. welcome back. it was incredibly hot yesterday from the desert southwest of florida, it was 108 in phoenix. 97 in dallas. new orleans, 93 and super humid. that goes along with our friends

down here in south florida. it was 95 in miami. that's actually very hot for them. usually the ocean can keep them a little cooler than that. today's forecast is going to be hot once again in florida, with temperatures in the low to mid 90s. 94 in new orleans. heat advisory because the heat index is going to be above 100 easily. and even dallas to phoenix. so the southern half of the country, it is baking in what is middle of the summerlike temperatures. if you're watching us this morning, wnyc, my old hometown, new channel 13 albany, new york, have a glass at the derby doings. all-american soap box derby, where you can get up close and get personal to those derby cars at the new york state museum. that's your "early today" event of the day, thomas. >> shout out to you folks back in albany, your old friends. >> yep. three of my grandparents are still there. i doubt they're up this morning. >> we hope they're not. hopefully they're sleeping in this tuesday. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a deal that would have wrapped up charlie sheen's assault case against his wife in time to

resume production on his top-rated tv comedy, it hit a snag on monday. although no one involved would comment, tmz reports that one of sheen's would-be jailers is objecting to some of the deal's work-release conditions. shannon price now changing her story several times regarding pictures taken of former husband gary coleman just before and just after he died. yesterday, after the hospital commented that quote, shannon and her family did take pictures, her rep went from downright denial to saying, kwoet, shannon and her family did take pictures but they were never meant to get out. reports say that at least four of those photos have been sold, and three may appear in tabloid magazines later this week. finally, former american idol music director ricky minor joined "the tonight show" last night, replacing kevin eubanks. he's promising to bring in lots of high profile musicians to sit in with the band. and bill, you know, it's hard to believe but kevin eubanks, he was there 18 years. >> i love it. he was a big philadelphia guy, too. >> he was great. you remember who was with them before? eubanks? >> no.

>> brenten mar s&lous. >> that name is very familiar. >> i think it was marsalis. this next story comes from news channel 5 in west palm beach, florida, where nearby bointon beach one couple has proof they were destined for each other. just days before their wedding alex and donna were looking for old photos when they found one of a then-5-year-old donna at disney world. look a closer look reveals that alex and his dad were also in the picture. back then, their families hadn't met. they lived thousands of miles apart. the couple now thinks fate brought them together then, and now, 20 years later. that's pretty unbelievable, huh? >> very unbelievable. just the fact that they'd even see themselves in the background. >> and obviously, donna's going after alex is a younger guy there. she was 5 and he's in the stroller. yeah. all right, i'm thomas roberts and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today, on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning. i am tony pann. we're off to another quiet start on this tuesday. it is unseasonably cool out there. 52 degrees in carroll county. 60 at the airport. very nice. mostly sunny skies. a high temperature in the upper 70's. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. for now, to the news desk. >> thank you.

57 degrees. here's a look ahead. >> the baltimore city council talks about revenue and pension reform. details are next. >> a public relations rollout at the highest level. how the president will try to sell the american public on health care today. >> in catonsville, we do have a water main break to let you know about.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. correct tony pann has a quick look at today's forecast. yesterday was perfect. >> wasn't a great? and we're going to do it again today. you're not going to see too many you're not going to see too many days like